Religious hate crimes hit record high as LGBTQ+ offences fall
– 2 min read
The latest Home Office figures reveal a rise in hate crime across England and Wales, with religiously motivated offences reaching their highest recorded level. In the year ending March 2025, police recorded 115,990 hate crimes (excluding the Metropolitan Police), marking a 2% increase from the previous year.
- Race hate crimes rose by 6%, from 77,901 to 82,490 offences.
- Religious hate crimes increased by 3%, totalling 7,164 offences, the highest annual figure on record.
- Anti-Muslim hate crimes surged by 19%, from 2,690 to 3,199 offences.
- Anti-Jewish hate crimes fell by 18% (excluding Met data), from 2,093 to 1,715, though the Met Police recorded 40% of all such offences nationally.
While religious and racial hate crimes increased, other categories saw declines:
- Sexual orientation hate crimes fell by 2% to 19,127.
- Disability hate crimes dropped by 8% to 10,224.
- Transgender hate crimes decreased by 11% to 3,809.
Simon Blake, CEO of LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall said: “Unsurprisingly, the Home Office statistics released today show that overall hate crime continues to rise, which is damaging for our neighbourhoods, communities and society.
“Yet, these numbers don’t tell the full story for the LGBTQ+ community. Today’s headline data focuses on hate crimes reported outside of London and excludes the Met Police numbers due to reporting changes, which will inevitably affect LGBTQ+ data because of where many LGBTQ+ people live. Trust in the Police has also fallen more widely, compounding what we already know - that LGBTQ+ people often don’t report hate crimes.
“No one should have to live somewhere where they don’t feel safe. The stories we hear every day tell us that LGBTQ+ people are experiencing more hate and are living in fear, especially following the April Supreme Court judgment, a period that doesn’t fall within these statistics.
"The Government’s delivery of its commitment to make LGBTQ+ hate crime an aggravated offence can’t come soon enough.”
